Odds and Ends: Howard, Aardsma, Odalis

The Red Sox inked a couple of former closers to minor league deals: Dan Kolb and Dan Miceli. No need to run out and pick them up for your fantasy team. I think Papelbon is secure.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox are hunting for a lefty bench bat. Tony Clark emailed him to say he’d love a return to Boston, but Cafardo says he’s not on the top of the list. Clark hit .207/.265/.291 for the ’02 Sox.

A few comments from Pat Gillick on the Ryan Howard situation. He says the Phillies are "open to anything." Gillick also claimed arbitration hearings really aren’t all that contentious. I guess that could be true, I’ve never been in the room for one.

The official acquisition of Octavio Dotel meant the White Sox DFA’d David Aardsma. Aardsma, 26, has whiffed about a batter per inning over his last two seasons. He has to have a little bit of trade value.

Impacto Deportivo says the Mets will meet with Odalis Perez. Two left-handed O. Perez’s might confuse opponents, giving the Mets an advantage. Really though it’s a good idea for Omar to stockpile some arms even if Odalis doesn’t have much left. One thing’s for sure, he won’t be earning $7.75MM again. (Hat tip to MetsBlog).